Former Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas has this week provided his take on the upcoming showdown between the Gunners, and Manchester City.
The headline fixture of the upcoming game week in the Premier League is of course set to play out at The Etihad Stadium, on Sunday night. This comes as Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions Man City prepare to play host to Mikel Arteta, and Arsenal.
The fixture has long emerged as one of the most significant in the English football calendar, with City and Arsenal, in the eyes of most, the two favorites to battle for the Premier League title once more this season.
As things stand, it is the former who lead the way in the early running, having racked up a perfect four wins from four. Their upcoming opponents, meanwhile, sit 2nd, two points adrift, with three wins and a draw from their opening four league fixtures.
One individual of the opinion that, when all is said and done in Manchester on Sunday, it will be Arsenal who emerge on the right side of the result, though, comes in the form of the aforementioned Cesc Fabregas. Ex-midfielder Fabregas, who is currently in charge of Serie A outfit Como, made an appearance on the Planet Premier League podcast on Thursday.
And, when asked for his prediction for the outcome of the early-season six-pointer at The Etihad, the Spaniard went on to explain: “I’m going for 2-1 to Arsenal. There will be goals. I’m pretty sure there will be goals.”
“I think you lose this weekend, it doesn’t have a big impact into the mind of the players, you know, going forward into the season, because there is still so many games to play. Now, you lose this game in March, then that’s a big deal. We might see a little difference in terms of approach from the teams.”
“It’s always been a very 50-50 game, you know, because they respect each other, they know all their weaknesses, they know their strengths. I think the game plans of both teams are so good that it makes it a very even game, and sometimes with not a lot of chances. But yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Whilst Fabregas is no doubt ever-so-slightly biased in his viewpoint on this weekend’s matchup owing to his Arsenal past, in truth, a victory for Arteta’s men in Manchester would not come as a shock. The north Londoners are unbeaten in their last three meetings with City across all competitions, the most recent of which saw the two sides share the spoils in a goalless stalemate at The Etihad back in March.
